Bai tong tang

Bai tong tang

fu zi raw 6 gan jiang 3 cong bai 3

When in shao yin, there is diarrhea bai tong tang governs.

When in shao yin disease there is diarrhea and the pulse is faint, give bai tong tang. When there is incessant diarrhea, reversal flow, an absent pulse, dry retching, and vexation bai tong jia zhu dan zhi tang governs. If after taking the decoction the pulse suddenly moves outward, this means death, but if the pulse continues to be faint this means life.

Where there is incessant diarrhea, reversal flow, an absent pulse, dry retching and vexation bai tong jia zhu dan zhi tang governs.

The original formula of bai tong jia zhu dan zhi tang included human urine and pigs bile. I don’t expect we will use pigs bile and human urine, just cong bai.

This formula is a version of si ni tang which is fuzi, gan jiang, and zhi gan cao.

It treats a shao yin and tai yin pattern. There is a loss of imperial heat with an accumulation of cold and dampness in yang ming stomach and intestines. This pattern is milder than tong mai si ni tang. It breaks up yin in the lower burner to let yang rise back up to cool fire. Yang is supported by fu zi and gan jiang while yin is broken up by cong bai.

Fu zi, Aconiti radix lateralis praeparata is pungent dispersing of liver blood and the ministerial fire in the san jiao. It is pungent dispersing of the heart and kidneys. It is pungent dispersing of the tai yang channels. It is pungent dispersing of excess water. It warms the source yang of the body as imperial fire of the heart and kidneys.

Fu zi infuses the body with fire and promotes water metabolism through the descent of fire into the water reservoirs of the body to draw qi from the body.

Gan jiang, Zingiberis rhizoma, dried is warm (or hot) pungent and astringent. Gan jiang is the main herb to warm the tai yin level and treat excessive dampness by introducing yang ming dryness in tai yin dampness.

It anchors the dispersing nature of fu zi with its stagnant heat. Gan jiang warms the interior and clears cold and dries dampness.

Cong bai, Allii fistulosi bulbus is pungent dispersing of cold and dampness in the stomach domain and spleen. It is pungent dispersing of the liver blood and the ministerial fire in the san jiao. Cong bai clears the way for the Fire element to make its descent through Earth, Metal to Water.

Cong bai disperses cold and unblocks yang in the abdomen which allows the yang herbs to descend and then warm the yang. By adding cong bai to internal cold pattern we can calm down the stomach to receive the warm herbs.